spring·hare (spr?ng?hâr?)n. A burrowing nocturnal rodent (Pedetes capensis) of southern Africa, having long powerful hind legs with which it leaps like a kangaroo.[Partial translation of Afrikaans springhaas : spring, to leap up; see springbok + haas, hare.]American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.